For People with Traumatic Brain Injury

“I’m not me anymore, but I’m still me.” So say — or think — many people who have sustained a traumatic brain injury.

In this section for people with TBI, you will find information about diagnosis and treatment, assistive technologies to help at home and at work, headache and sleeping problems, and guidance on how to make new friends and build lasting relationships among other topics.

As someone with a brain injury, you may be particularly interested in:

Topics

Any injury to the brain from an external force is a TBI. Penetrating head injuries occur when an object, like shrapnel, enters the brain and causes damage in a specific area. Closed head injuries occur when there's a blow to the head, which can happen during a fall, car accident, sporting event, or any number of different ways.

Traumatic Brain Injury BasicsBrain injury affects the roots of who we are — our ability to think, communicate, and connect with other people. Here's a good place to start learning.

The parts of the brain most frequently damaged in a TBI are the frontal lobes. The frontal lobes govern personality and impulsivity. If damaged, a person may have problems with self-control, anger, or aggression. Or the opposite might happen … someone’s personality may become muted or seemingly emotionless. This is called “flat affect.”

A blow or jolt to the head can disrupt the normal function of the brain. This is called a brain injury, or concussion. Doctors may describe these injuries as “mild” because concussions are usually not life threatening. Even so, the effects of a concussion can be serious.

The diagnosis of brain injury involves looking for signs of brain injury, either through scanning devices like CAT scans, MRIs, and X-rays, or through screening tools — usually in the form of neurocognitive tests. For mild traumatic brain injuries, treatment often involves resting the body and the brain. If symptoms of brain injury persist, further evaluation by a neurologist and/or a neuropsychologist may be helpful.

There’s no denying that life is different after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). In addition to all the physical changes a brain injury may bring, a TBI can also mean the loss of a career or the disruption of an education. It can change your plans for the future, alter the way you meet and make friends, and affect the way you think about yourself.

One Simple Way to Fight Depression
Joining a group — any group you connect with — can help stave off depression for a person with TBI and his or her family caregivers, says BrainLine blogger Rosemary Rawlins.

Lessons of Brain Injury and Buffett
BrainLine blogger Janna Leyde writes about how, with some help from Jimmy Buffett, she learned to accept the fact that life doesn't always work out as planned.